Frank Tashlin

A hibernating bear awakens to find himself smack dab in the middle of a sprawling industrial complex where people think he's just a silly man who wears a fur coat. 46 illustrations.

Frank Tashlin (1913–1972) was a supremely gifted satirist and visual stylist who made an indelible mark on 1950s Hollywood and American popular culture—first as a talented animator working on Looney Tunes cartoons, then as muse to film stars Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, and Jayne Mansfield. Yet his name is not especially well known today. Long regarded as an anomaly or curiosity, Tashlin is finally given his due in this career-spanning survey. Tashlinesque considers the director’s films in the contexts of Hollywood censorship, animation history, and the development of the genre of comedy in American film, with particular emphasis on the sex, satire, and visual flair that comprised Tashlin’s distinctive artistic and comedic style. Through close readings and pointed analyses of Tashlin’s large and fascinating body of work, Ethan de Seife offers fresh insights into such classic films as Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, The Girl Can’t Help It, Artists and Models, The Disorderly Orderly, and Son of Paleface, as well as numerous Warner Bros. cartoons starring Porky Pig, among others. This is an important rediscovery of a highly unusual and truly hilarious American artist. Includes a complete filmography.

A contented little possum is discovered by a group of picknickers who, mistaking his upside-down smile for a frown, resolve to rescue him.

The 1950s were a transitional period for film comedians. The artistic suppression of the McCarthy era and the advent of television often resulted in a dumbing down of motion pictures. Cartoonist-turned-director Frank Tashlin contributed a funny but cartoonish effect through his work with comedians like Jerry Lewis and Bob Hope. A new vanguard of comedians appeared without stock comic garb or make-up--fresh faces not easily pigeonholed as merely comedians, such as Tony Randall, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Some traditional comedians, like Charlie Chaplin, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye, continued their shtick, though with some evident tweaking. This book provides insight into a misunderstood decade of film history with an examination of the "personality comedians." The talents of Dean Martin and Bob Hope are reappraised and the "dumb blonde" stereotype, as applied to Judy Holliday and Marilyn Monroe, is deconstructed.

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In the words of Walt Disney, “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive.” Part biography, part history, part artistic commentary, this volume looks at major figures in the field of animation and discusses how their contributions have affected the course of the industry—and, in many cases, popular culture as a whole. These gifted artists are divided into several classifications: Idealists (Art Babbitt, John Hubley); Mavericks (John Kricfalusi, Terry Gilliam); Technicians (Max and Dave Fleischer); Influencers (Frank Tashlin, Matt Groening, Ray Harryhausen, Ed Benedict); Trailblazers (Lotte Rieniger, Lillian Friedman); Teller of Tales (Henry Selick); Teachers (George Newall, Tom Yohe, the FMPU); and Storytellers (Joe Grant, Bill Scott, Michael Maltese). A selective list of each animator’s key films and awards is included.